Romanovski polynomials in selected physics problems

We briefly review the five possible real polynomial solutions of hypergeometric differential equations. Three of them are the well known classical orthogonal polynomials, but the other two are different with respect to their orthogonality properties. We then focus on the family of polynomials which exhibits a finite orthogonality. This family, to be referred to as the Romanovski polynomials, is required in exact solutions of several physics problems ranging from quantum mechanics and quark physics to random matrix theory. It appears timely to draw attention to it by the present study. Our survey also includes several new observations on the orthogonality properties of the Romanovski polynomials and new developments from their Rodrigues formula.     

Matrix effects in the determination of butyltin compounds in environmental samples by GC AA after hydride generation

Experiments for the determination of mono-, di and tri-butyltin (MBT, DBT and TBT) by hydride generation/gas chromatography/atomic absorption spectrometry in various matrices (sediment, suspended matter, mussel, algae and water) have revealed that poor butyltin recoveries are obtained in sediments displaying high sulphur and hydrocarbon contents; very poor recoveries were also observed for TBT in sediments with high chlorophyll pigment contents as well as in algal samples. It was however not clear whether the hydride generatin was inhibited by these infering compounds, as was previously assumed in the case of hydrocarbons, or whether interferences affected the atomization rate. Further studies were performed to solve this problem in order to validate this method in the case of analyses of, for example, oil-contaminated sediment and algae. This paper presents the results obtained. It is concluded here that the poor recoveries were due to an inhibition of hydride generation rather than to interference at the atomization stage.     

A fast modified sine transform for solving block-tridiagonal systems with Toeplitz blocks

In this report we consider block-tridiagonal systems with Toeplitz blocks. Each block is of sizen×n consisting ofn _c×n _c matrices as entries, and there arem×m blocks in the system. The solution of those systems consists of 2n _c m modified sine transforms and an intermediate solution ofn block-tridiagonal systems. Symmetries in the data vectors are exploited such that one modified sine transform can be computed in terms of one Fourier transform of half the length of the original one, hence requiringO(2.5nlog₂ n) operations. Similarly, we only have to solve (n+1)/2 of the intermediate systems due to symmetry.This work was supported by the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, NUTEK, under contract No. 89-02539 P.     

Cyclic reduction and FACR methods for piecewise hermite bicubic orthogonal spline collocation

Cyclic reduction and Fourier analysis-cyclic reduction (FACR) methods are presented for the solution of the linear systems which arise when orthogonal spline collocation with piecewise Hermite bicubics is applied to boundary value problems for certain separable partial differential equations on a rectangle. On anN×N uniform partition, the cyclic reduction and Fourier analysis-cyclic reduction methods requireO(N ²log₂ N) andO(N ²log₂log₂ N) arithmetic operations, respectively.     

The harmonic consistency index for the analytic hierarchy process

A new consistency measure, the harmonic consistency index, is obtained for any positive reciprocal matrix in the analytic hierarchy process. We show how this index varies with changes in any matrix element. A tight upper bound is provided for this new consistency measure when the entries of matrix are at most 9, as is often recommended. Using simulation, the harmonic consistency index is shown to give numerical values similar to the standard consistency index but it is easier to compute and interpret. In addition, new properties of the column sums of reciprocal matrices are obtained.     

A note on the complex semi‐definite matrix Procrustes problem

This note outlines an algorithm for solving the complex ‘matrix Procrustes problem’. This is a least‐squares approximation over the cone of positive semi‐definite Hermitian matrices, which has a number of applications in the areas of Optimization, Signal Processing and Control. The work generalizes the method of Allwright (SIAM J. Control Optim. 1988; 26 (3):537–556), who obtained a numerical solution to the real‐valued version of the problem. It is shown that, subject to an appropriate rank assumption, the complex problem can be formulated in a real setting using a matrix‐dilation technique, for which the method of Allwright is applicable. However, this transformation results in an over‐parametrization of the problem and, therefore, convergence to the optimal solution is slow. Here, an alternative algorithm is developed for solving the complex problem, which exploits fully the special structure of the dilated matrix. The advantages of the modified algorithm are demonstrated via a numerical example. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The application of spectral distribution of product of two random matrices in the factor analysis

In the factor analysis model with large cross-section and time-series dimensions,we pro- pose a new method to estimate the number of factors.Specially if the idiosyncratic terms satisfy a linear time series model,the estimators of the parameters can be obtained in the time series model. The theoretical properties of the estimators are also explored.A simulation study and an empirical analysis are conducted.     

Assessment of some iterative methods for non-symmetric linear systems arising in computational fluid dynamics

Various tests have been carried out in order to compare the performances of several methods used to solve the non-symmetric linear systems of equations arising from implicit discretizations of CFD problems, namely the scalar advection-diffusion equation and the compressible Euler equations. The iterative schemes under consideration belong to three families of algorithms: relaxation (Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel), gradient and Newton methods. Two gradient methods have been selected: a Krylov subspace iteration method (GMRES) and a non-symmetric extension of the conjugate gradient method (CGS). Finally, a quasi-Newton method has also been considered (Broyden). The aim of this paper is to provide indications of which appears to be the most adequate method according to the particular circumstances as well as to discuss the implementation aspects of each scheme.     

Sparse generalized Fourier transforms

Block-diagonalization of sparse equivariant discretization matrices is studied. Such matrices typically arise when partial differential equations that evolve in symmetric geometries are discretized via the finite element method or via finite differences. By considering sparse equivariant matrices as equivariant graphs, we identify a condition for when block-diagonalization via a sparse variant of a generalized Fourier transform (GFT) becomes particularly simple and fast. Characterizations for finite element triangulations of a symmetric domain are given, and formulas for assembling the block-diagonalized matrix directly are presented. It is emphasized that the GFT preserves symmetric (Hermitian) properties of an equivariant matrix. By simulating the heat equation at the surface of a sphere discretized by an icosahedral grid, it is demonstrated that the block-diagonalization is beneficial. The gain is significant for a direct method, and modest for an iterative method. A comparison with a block-diagonalization approach based upon the continuous formulation is made. It is found that the sparse GFT method is an appropriate way to discretize the resulting continuous subsystems, since the spectrum and the symmetry are preserved. AMS subject classification (2000)  43A30, 65T99, 20B25     

On matrices with operator entries

In this paper we consider certain matrix equations in the field of Mikusiński operators, and construct a method for obtaining an approximate solution which allows working with numerical constants instead of operators. The theory of diagonally dominant matrices is applied for the analysis, existence and character of the obtained solutions. We introduce a method for determining approximate solutions of a discrete analogue for operational differential equations and give conditions for their existence. The error of the approximation is estimated.